Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Horse]

https://www.ft.com/content/db79dfd0-d1b ... 19a5f75e0c

Chemicals group Solvay said it was increasing production of rare earth materials at its plant in western France, as soaring global trade tensions underscored the need for Europe to reduce its reliance on imports of materials that are vital for the energy transition.

The move to expand the plant comes as US President Donald Trump’s trade wars have highlighted the urgency for Europe to wean itself off supply chains that are dominated by China, which last week retaliated against sweeping tariffs by announcing new export bans on certain rare earths.

China controls about 90 per cent of global rare earths processing capacity, according to the International Energy Agency, leaving Europe vulnerable to supply shocks just as the energy transition is set to boost demand for the key materials.

Belgium-based Solvay aims to produce 30 per cent of European demand for rare earths used in so-called permanent magnets by 2030.

[ZRX61]

If the long-term plan from the top is to bring manufacturing back into the country then, there's two ways it can go: either lower pay or higher prices.

The reason we have a BYD plant here is because the land it was built on was owned by the Mayors brother... For some reason the Mayor is always going on trips to China. He doesn't actually live here, he has a $6Million beach front mansion in Laguna Beach.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Belgium-based Solvay aims to produce 30 per cent of European demand for rare earths used in so-called permanent magnets by 2030.

Not sure the "so-called" is in the right place there.

The funny thing about rare earth materials is that.....they're not all that rare! So the "so-called" should be in front of that bit.

It does feel like everyone's suddenly realised in the last 3 minutes that these materials might be important. There's this weird dichotomy of "climate change is fake, drill drill drill" and "we desperately need to control the minerals used to make solar panels and magnets"

Yes I know they also go into computer chips before anyone says it .

[Horse]

There's this weird dichotomy of "climate change is fake, drill drill drill" and "we desperately need to control the minerals used to make solar panels and magnets"

Talking of which.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq80ygdd3zlo

Clean energy's share of world's electricity reaches 40%, report says

[Taipan]

There's this weird dichotomy of "climate change is fake, drill drill drill" and "we desperately need to control the minerals used to make solar panels and magnets"

Talking of which.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq80ygdd3zlo

Clean energy's share of world's electricity reaches 40%, report says

From that article,

"In the last five years, fast-growing Asian economies, in particular India and China, have continued expanding their use of fossil fuels to meet rapidly rising demand for electricity.".

So they're burning more fossil fuels to make more batteries!

[Horse]

There's this weird dichotomy of "climate change is fake, drill drill drill" and "we desperately need to control the minerals used to make solar panels and magnets"

Talking of which.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq80ygdd3zlo

Clean energy's share of world's electricity reaches 40%, report says

From that article,

"In the last five years, fast-growing Asian economies, in particular India and China, have continued expanding their use of fossil fuels to meet rapidly rising demand for electricity.".

So they're burning more fossil fuels to make more batteries!

You'll like this
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornw ... 089732.amp

First UK lithium factory in Cornwall approved
The project will allow Cornish Lithium to assess the potential for harnessing heat from geothermal waters for local homes and businesses

Cornish Lithium explained: "Lithium-enriched geothermal waters will be extracted from the first well using state-of-the-art Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology. Once the lithium has been extracted, the water will then be returned underground via the second well.

"These production-scale wells will also allow the company to assess the potential for harnessing heat from the same geothermal waters to provide heating for local homes and businesses."

[Saga Lout]

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/ ... esearch-2/

Scientists out of Stanford University's SLAC-Stanford Battery Center have found that electric vehicle batteries may last much longer than previously thought.

...

And when they do reach the end of their life they can be recycled by people like these:
https://battery-tech.net/fenix-battery-recycling-ltd/

Oh dear, maybe not:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ypp5q79l3o

[Pirahna]

[wheelnut]

Mental

[Mr. Dazzle]

Faster than an F1 car

[Count Steer]

*Waits for all the faces*

"But mummy, it doesn't go brum! brum!"



(It is just a tad daft though ).

[mangocrazy]

Faster than a 21 year old F1 car

[Pirahna]

Faster than a 21 year old F1 car

Fastest lap Silverstone 2004 was 1.18, last year was 1.28, 10 seconds slower. I'm sure there's reasons why but F1 cars from 2004 are reckoned to be some of the fastest ever.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Changing the track layout might be a factor

[mangocrazy]

Faster than a 21 year old F1 car

Fastest lap Silverstone 2004 was 1.18, last year was 1.28, 10 seconds slower. I'm sure there's reasons why but F1 cars from 2004 are reckoned to be some of the fastest ever.

Fair cop, guv. I wasn't aware of that. Mind you, no F1 car in recent times has ever had electric fans sucking it down to the ground...

[Pirahna]

Changing the track layout might be a factor

I'm not a student of F1 but I googled for a circuit that hasn't changed and Monza seems to fit the bill. The fastest lap there in 2004 was 1:21, the fastest lap last year was 1:21. The pole time was 0.7 of a second faster last year.

[Mr. Dazzle]

They've deliberately set the rules so the speeds haven't really increased for the last 20 years TBF.

2025 F1 cars are much safer and burn much less fuel.....but are no faster.

[Horse]

They've deliberately set the rules so the speeds haven't really increased for the last 20 years TBF

Presumably two main reasons:
Safety: containment from run-off areas and barriers
Racing: faster = more difficulty overtaking

[demographic]

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/ ... esearch-2/

Scientists out of Stanford University's SLAC-Stanford Battery Center have found that electric vehicle batteries may last much longer than previously thought.

...

And when they do reach the end of their life they can be recycled by people like these:
https://battery-tech.net/fenix-battery-recycling-ltd/

Oh dear, maybe not:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ypp5q79l3o

Carlisles local scrapyard caught fire last week and required seven fire engines to control the blaze, they remove the (normal) car batteries, fluids and wheels before taking the dead cars down the yard on a telehandler.
Over the last few years they didnt let the public just go down the yard with a few spanners in a tub to ratch for parts like they used to.
Bloke I was talking to reckoned the fire looked to be in the area where the crusher was and that the crusher could overheat if used too much in a short time period.

In other news, the local waste tip and binwagons have pretty regular small fires started by laptop, phone and vape batteries.

[Taipan]

Our hotel is next to a polestar dealership. They doa nice looking little coupe-ish one. Much nicer than their bigger models which look a bit boxy to me?